


The Quidditch Pitch

by olivemartini



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fred Weasley death, Gen, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, Post-War, quidditch pitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 02:11:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4461326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olivemartini/pseuds/olivemartini
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver Wood could not believe his eyes, though for the life of him couldn't imagine why this horrible sight surprised him. What did he expect? A full scale battle had just finished at Hogwarts, and here he was, moaning over a ruined quidditch pitch. Did he think that dark wizards were going to hold the pitch in holy reverence as he did, treating it like sacred ground. Yes, a stubborn, offended, arrogant voice in his head told him. You did think that they would leave it alone. Even if they had no reason for a school, don't all wizards like quidditch?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Quidditch Pitch

Oliver Wood could not believe his eyes, though for the life of him couldn't imagine why this horrible sight surprised him. What did he expect? A full scale battle had just finished at Hogwarts, and here he was, moaning over a ruined quidditch pitch. Did he think that dark wizards were going to hold the pitch in holy reverence as he did, treating it like sacred ground. _Yes_ , a stubborn, offended, arrogant voice in his head told him. _You did think that they would leave it alone. Even if they had no reason for a school, don't all wizards like quidditch?_

In the end, it didn't really matter. The changing rooms had been trampled by trolls. The stands were collapsed, and a smoke was burning from fires underneath the rubble. The grass had been ripped up by running feet, and the dirt had been turned to mud. What made it muddy? There hadn't been rain. It took him a second to realize that it must be blood that had soaked into the ground, blood and dirt squishing underneath his shoes. Five of the six goal posts were laying at strange angles on the ground, but one remained. The home team's goal was still standing, the middle (and tallest) post. Oliver got on the old Cleansweep, the only broom that had survived the demolishing of the broom shed, and flew up to it. With a leap, he moved from his broom to the post, sitting in the circle and staring out over the forbidden forest, not caring if he ever came down to the ground or not.   
"Oliver!" The girl's voice, so full of exapseration and affection, almost made him topple off the post and down to the ground. Righting himself, he looked down, seeing Katie Bell squinting up at him. She had his broom in her hands. "Get down here!"

He laughed. It was always strange, how she ordered him around, even back when they were team mates and he was captain. He could remember standing beside her at try outs, scared out of his mind, and she just smiled at him and told him that there was a sure way to tell if he wasw the right person to be captain. When he asked what that was, she said, "If you let me on your team, you're a great captain. If you don't, you're a smart one." He let her on the team as soon as he saw how she flew.

"What are you doing up here? Katie hovered in the air, looking at him. "Everyone's in the castle."

"I know." He moved over so she had room to sit. they were smuched together pretty tightly, their legs tangling together and hands touching, but neither of them minded. "You know, we should get the team out here. The one I was captain over. You, Alicia, and Angelina as the Keepers, Harry as the best seeker Hogwarts has ever seen, me as captain, Fred and Geoge as beaters."

"Oliver." Katie said softly, her voice no more than a whisper of anguish. It was that tone, that whisper, that broke through his daydreams and brought him back to the present. "Oliver, didnt you hear?"

"Who?" The dread knotted his stomach. This is why he had stayed away from the castle. So long as he stayed away from Hogwarts castle, no one could tell him who they had lost, and he could pretend that they had won without any casulaties.

"Fred." Katie said softly. "It's not fair!" she blurted, her voice sending half a dozen owls into the trees. "We just graduated, we're barely more than kids, and we fight a damn war! It's not... and Fred was.... he was always so happy, so alive.... how could someone that alive be dead?"

"Ssssh." Oliver hugged her, putting his chin on top of her head. "It's over now. And you're still here, right?" A pang shot through him at the thought of her not being here. After he left Hogwarts, she was the only member of the tema he still talked to regurlarly, who still tlaked quidditch with him. She was the only one who came to his games, and then stayed up late at night using floo powder to hear countless stories about a game she had already seen. "Do you remember," He said suddenly, on a whim. "When Fred got your diary out of your bag, and started reading it out loud?"

Katie's face reddened under the tears, and she choked out a laugh. "and read about how hot I think you are? How could I forget?"

Oliver chuckled. "I couldn't look you in the eyes for a few weeks after that."

"A few weeks?" Kaite shrieked. "Try a few months!  Or how about," Katie couldn't contain her giggles. "When the twins stupified you and left you tied to the goal posts? I still have a picture of that, should send it to your team mates."

"Don't you dare!" The threat, and the fun, was short lived. As the dark descended around them, so did the dread. One by one, figures slipped out of the darkness. Both Oliver and Katie drew their wands, as did those on the ground as they became aware of one another. Wands were lit, revealing the faces of fellow quiidtch team members from all houses except for Slytherin that played over the course of twenty years. By some unspoken agreement, they formed a plan. Beaters worked on the changing rooms, Keepers on the goal posts, seekers on the stands, and Chasers helped the grass regrow. Looking at each other, Katie and Oliver flew down to help, the school teams uniting, already planning to make a quiiditch league for all of them, since no one but Oliver had made it professionally.

Except for five people, everyone was a accounted for, which was a miracle in itself.

A shame, Oliver thought, that Fred was one of those five people. He was a damn good beater.

A damn good friend.


End file.
